


Spy For a Day

by Bettybackintheday



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Clint and Natasha realize feelings, F/M, Mission Fic, Pepper Potts is a spy for a day, Protective Pepper Potts, Romance Disguised as Action Adventure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-18 12:09:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7314649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bettybackintheday/pseuds/Bettybackintheday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Pepper Potts gets a surprise visit from Agent Natasha Romanoff asking for help, you know it's serious. The Avengers are threatened from within SHIELD and don't even realize that Pepper is their best hope for survival. It's a race against time to overcome her fear, develop a plan, and save the most critically compromised team member. Will she save Clint in time?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written and posted elsewhere back in April 2013 and I'm finally adding it to my AO3. It takes place not too long after the Battle of New York. I cleaned up some minor typos, but resisted the urge to re-write anything. This fic takes me back to the good ol' days and I didn't want to change any of those feels. **Some mention of trauma experienced after the Battle of New York, hospital scene, movie-level gun/physical violence**

She hated private security details. Hated them. With a passion. She'd not given it much thought, but rather figured those days were behind her after the incident in Manhattan. She had managed to fly pretty far under the media radar and was not nearly as recognizable as some of the other "Avengers," but she still required much more in the way of physical disguise if she were to be involved in anything other than a completely covert, in-the-dark mission.

This private security mission was anything but dark. She couldn't even consider it a mission. It was punishment. This was her penance for her momentary lack of judgment and Fury was throwing his weight around as a reminder of who was really in charge. And, truth be told, SHIELD was going through some growing pains trying to adjust to life after Coulson.

So, where did that leave Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, at the moment? Escorting a mid-level SHIELD psychiatrist from a safe house in Los Angeles to an unmarked facility in San Francisco. In a car, no less. No Quinjet, no helicopter. On a good note, she sweet-talked (some may say threatened) Stark into using his convertible Audi. She would pocket the car rental stipend. Maybe use it to acquire a few bottles of her favorite Vodka. Yep, so there was that.

As she tucked her curly red hair up under a Dodgers ball cap, Pepper entered the garage. Dressed impeccably as ever, she walked over to Natasha and smiled. "Good morning, Natali-, I'm sorry, Natasha. Tony said you were here and I wanted to come down and say hello. If you have a chance to do lunch before you head back to New York, I would love to catch up with you."

Of course she would. Natasha knew Pepper was a hard-core businesswoman who could pick apart arguments in a board room like Hawkeye could pick off targets in the field. Yet, she was genuinely a nice person. "That would be very nice, Pepper. I'll give you a call when I'm back to drop off the car. Thank you."

"Good, because I wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. Here's my cell number…" She held up her Stark Industries phone to transmit her number. Natasha held up her phone to exchange numbers. Normally she wouldn't share her number, but she was certain that Pepper knew everything Tony did. And she trusted Pepper with that information way more than she did Tony anyway, so an unregistered cell phone number was the least of her worries.

JARVIS had already programmed the routes into the car’s GPS unit. Natasha revved the engine once and sped out of the cavernous garage on her way to pick up the good doctor.

As she crawled along with the morning freeway traffic, she allowed her thoughts to drift to the few personal topics she kept in the forefront of her mind. Clint was still involved in heavy-duty counseling to overcome the trauma of the Manhattan incident. She visited him every day and they exchanged text messages from time to time. She was concerned that he seemed a little worse than he was when he went in. She supposed that once the activity level went from full throttle to sitting around all day being immersed in the memories of the event, there were bound to be set backs. But she also knew how strong he was. Now that she had time to really consider the past few weeks, she was getting a very uneasy feeling.

\------

*ring ring*

Pepper told her assistant to hold all calls today. She had quarterly reports to review and her own to write. Why was her phone ringing?

*ring ring*

Better to answer and get rid of whoever it was. She picked up the receiver and let out a clipped, "Hello?"

"Hello, Pepper. Did you forget about our lunch appointment?"

"Lunch? But, I thought -"

Without allowing her to complete the sentence, Natasha quickly broke in. "Yes, lunch. Ah, I guess you did forget. Well, that's ok. I'm on my up now." And with that, the line went dead.

Pepper sat with the phone in her hand and mumbling, "But I don't have time today…" With a heavy sigh, she stood up and smoothed her navy blue pencil skirt. She knew there was no lunch date. What was her former-assistant-turned-spy-turned-Avenger up to? She began to feel nervous.

Natasha didn't even knock, just stormed right in. Pepper could tell she was here for a reason. "So, Pepper, how is it that you're too busy for lunch? Tell me what's going on here at Stark Industries." As Natasha spoke, her eyes bored into Pepper's and she rolled her right hand in circles as if to encourage her to keep talking. Pepper might have thought that Natasha looked like she was pleading, but the Black Widow didn't plead with anyone.

Taking Natasha's lead, Pepper began going over her schedule and listing all the items on her to-do list, adding details as she thought appropriate. As she spoke, Pepper watched Natasha absently pick up a pen and casually lean backwards onto her desk. As Pepper paced back and forth in the office talking about the latest press releases, she watched as Natasha began scribbling on a legal pad. Curious, Pepper meandered passed her desk and glanced down. Really? She can write backwards? There were three lines of words and numbers, all straight and neatly spaced. Perfectly legible.

"Under surveillance" read the first line. "Need your help for Clint" was the second line. Two strings of numbers filled the third line: 34.034491 - 118.492363 20:30.  
Still babbling about market position, Pepper looked up from the perfect script and found a pair of intense green eyes pleading with her. Definitely pleading. Wow. Pepper slowly nodded her head and quickly brought her rambling to an end.

"Wow, Pepper, I am so sorry for barging in on you today. No wonder you forgot our lunch date. Let's just reschedule and I'll see you soon, OK?" She was out the door before Pepper could even wave goodbye.

Pepper slowly walked over to her desk, afraid to further analyze the expertly back-handed written note. Why was Natasha under surveillance? If Clint were involved, though, that would easily explain the seriousness of the situation. Not that Natasha was ever light-hearted, but Pepper was quick to learn that when Clint was involved Natasha was at her deadliest. 

As she stared at the note, she wasn't sure if she was impressed or terrified that she instantly knew the numbers represented latitude and longitude coordinates and the time to be there. Had she really become so comfortable with this super-secret Earth's mightiest heroes business that she was easily reading spy code? God, she hoped not. She carefully tore the page off of the pad, folded it up and slipped it into her briefcase. Then she shredded the next four pages on the pad. Wouldn't want anyone being able to read the indentations on the subsequent pages.

She sat back down and just stared at the stacks of reports. "Really? You think you're going to get any work done now?" she whispered to herself. She bent down, picked up her briefcase, and pulled out the note. She memorized the numbers and headed to the 17th floor, the accounting department. If Natasha was being watched and they saw her with Pepper, chances were good that Pepper's computer was being monitored now. There's no reason, however, why the spare desktop computer in the accounting department would be monitored. As she breezed through the department, she greeted everyone she passed by name. Being "one of the guys" even though she was now CEO would always play to her advantage. Nobody gave her a second glance as she sat down and typed in the coordinates. Montana Ave, Santa Monica. She knew the general area of the neighborhood. What was she getting herself into?

\------------

As Pepper pulled up to the nondescript house, she noticed that it was brightly lit and looked very "lived in." Her imagination had clearly gotten the better of her as she had pictured a dark, gothic mansion like something out of an old Scooby Doo cartoon, complete with spinning bookcases. There was still the possibility of that. 

She chuckled to herself as she walked up the sidewalk. Dressed casually in fitted jeans and flat-healed shoes, she kept her right hand hovering over the unzipped top of her shoulder bag. Her senses were on high alert and she had become proficient with the Smith and Wesson M&P Shield 9mm that sat in the bag just below her hand. She knocked firmly on the door with her left hand.

The door opened, though she could not see who had done so. They were in the shadows behind the door. "Come in, Pepper," spoke the tense but familiar voice of Natasha.

There were no pleasantries exchanged in the foyer. Natasha led the way into the small, modern kitchen and offered Pepper a seat. 

"Pepper, I'm very sorry to have to involve you in this. I truly had no one else to turn to. All the Avengers are being monitored - even Tony - and things are moving so quickly that I needed someone on the outside, but someone I could trust. I know you won't find it shocking to hear that I don't have many friends. And even fewer that I trust. You have to know that I would never ask you to do something like this if it weren't a matter of life or death. Not my life, Clint's life." Pepper would swear that she heard a slight crack in the agent's voice as she spoke Clint's name.

"Natasha, I don't play spy games, but you can trust me to help you with whatever needs done. If Clint, Tony, you, and the others are in danger, I could never sit by and do nothing. Please tell me what's going on." Pepper spoke passionately and confidently, but Natasha wasn't sure exactly who Pepper was trying to convince - Natasha or herself.

"I can't go into all the dirty details, but here's what you need to know. When I showed up to pick up my mark this morning, he was incredibly chatty. Turns out somebody got the dates confused. He thought his ride was planned for tomorrow and figured I was a lab tech for AIM making one last pick up of "pharmaceuticals" before he bugged out to San Francisco. So, I played along to see how much I could get out of him. The good doctor was very pleased with his work so he had no problem filling me in on AIM's double-cross of SHIELD. The meds he handed me were formulated specifically for each member of the Avengers and their unique enhancements. These formulas would cause irreparable damage to each of us."

At that Pepper felt light-headed. A well-respected company, a company Stark Industries occasionally consulted with, was plotting to - what? - kill the Avengers? This was no spy game or corporate espionage. This was someone trying to hurt Tony. Trying to hurt people Pepper had become very close to, if not in proximity certainly emotionally. This crap just got real.

"Stay with me, Pepper. You can handle this. Let me finish," continued Natasha. "So, the connection on the inside at SHIELD already is working on Clint. They're using his counseling as the cover. Every dose of sleeping pills they give him is working to send him further into depression, further away from recovery. They are making him crazy. What I intercepted today was meant for Bruce. I can only imagine the devastation that could have caused. The mole already has Tony's and Cap's formulas. The good doctor was still working on Thor's and mine and he didn't know how they planned to administer the other formulas."

"Are you sure?" asked Pepper. "Did you try to ask the right questions to pull it out of him? I know you have persuasive techniques. If this guy were showing off, surely it would've been easy to get that info out of him. Right?" Desperation was taking over. They had to stop it before Tony was effected.

Natasha glanced at a closed door. "Believe me, I got every ounce of information the little weasel had any knowledge of. He was helpful to a point. When he became useless and irritating and a liability, I put him out of his misery." Pepper thought she would throw up. Is there a dead body behind that door? "Too much information, Pepper?"

After thinking about it for a few seconds, she realized that if she was going to see this through to the other side - to the side where Tony, she, and the Avengers were safe - she was in for a penny, in for a pound. It was kill or be killed. She shook her head, looked Natasha Romanoff dead in the eyes and said, "Agent Romanoff, I'm on a need-to-know basis. And all I need to know now is what my next move is."

That earned her a small but approving smile from the world-weary assassin. "Careful Potts. You play hardball like that and Fury might end up recruiting you, too." Pepper returned the smile and nodded her head at the thinly-veiled compliment.

"Here's our play. Clint's in immediate danger. I don't know what the threshold is for a point of no return - a build up of meds that renders a reversal impossible. So I need you to get into the facility asap and get him out of there."

"How?" Pepper asked immediately.

"That's your department. If I'm involved in any way, the whole thing will be blown and we'll never get to the bottom of it. I'm going to continue on to San Francisco. Any major deviation from the original plan will look suspicious. If the good doctor thought we were leaving tomorrow, chances are good that his connection in San Fran isn't expecting us until then. That gives me time to plan and prepare. We'll hit the road tomorrow according to his plan." 

So, Pepper thought, the good doctor isn't dead? Or was she pulling a "Weekend at Bernie's" scenario? This spy business is too confusing. Natasha was still explaining, "I'm going to work on figuring out who, exactly, our moles are. From this point forward, YOU are the only person I trust. So help me," she whispered, almost to herself, "if Fury is involved in this any way, I will kill him. I would bet money the Council somehow has their filthy corrupt fingers in it, but that will be damned-near impossible to prove."

Pepper continued to nod her head as if she understood what Natasha was ranting about.

"So, I need you to get to New York, get Clint out of the facility and to somewhere safe. I don't know if there will be any reaction as his body works to rid itself of the toxin. He'll need constant supervision, but he can't seek medical attention anywhere near New York. Get him out. Get him…" she had to halt her speech and turn away from Pepper. She cleared her throat, took a breath and turned back to face Pepper. "Excuse me. Keep him safe until I get back. Please."

Pepper placed her hand on Natasha's wrist. "I will do everything in my power to get Clint somewhere safe. We will be waiting for you. I promise. You stay safe and don't do anything stupid. I have a funny feeling that what Clint really needs to get better… is you."

At that the red-haired spy slightly tilted her head and looked at Pepper with a genuinely perplexed expression. Seriously? Did Natasha not realize the depth of her feelings for Clint? Or his feelings for her? After everything Pepper had to deal with in the previous few hours, this left her speechless.

"Well, I'll be able to do my job knowing that he's safe. I trust you to make that happen." Any hope Pepper had of a declaration of feelings was gone in an instant. "And, I think you know this already, but you can't mention anything to Tony. If I need to bring him in on this, I'll contact him directly, but if he thinks I've endangered you in any way, he'll, well, you know him. The whole mission will be blown. And, again, we won't get to the root of the problem. Can I count on you to keep him out of it?"

"Of course. I can use my power of persuasion to keep Tony out of danger. As far as this issue is concerned, anyway. I never take responsibility for things too far out of my purview. He's tied up with Rhodey for the next few days, so we should be ok."

With that there was a deafening silence that settled over the kitchen. "Well, I guess I'm heading to NYC tonight. Keep in touch however you can. And be safe," Pepper said as she stood from her chair and turned toward the front door.

"I'll contact you as necessary. You can send me a text - coded of course - when you've cleared the facility with Clint." Natasha sounded all business but her eyes had a dull glaze over them. Clearly this was a weight she needed lifted before she could proceed full force. She needed to know he was safe and couldn't be used as leverage by AIM, SHIELD, Fury, or anyone. Once he was out of harm's way, Pepper would be glad to be on the other side the country from Natasha.

"You can count on me, Natasha."

With that Pepper placed her hand over her bag and confidently walked out the door and got in her car. "Not yet, not yet, not yet…" she chanted as she started the car and pulled into the street. She held on until she merged onto the mostly clear freeway. And then the tears poured from her eyes. How in the hell was she going to pull this off?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens. Pepper designs her plan to rescue Clint and enlists the help of one of her most-trusted friends.

After two freeway exits and countless tears, Pepper gathered herself together. Crying wouldn't help the situation. She needed to approach this from an angle that she could understand. She needed to be in control. She needed a plan. A damn good one. Who better to devise a plan than the CEO of a successful multi-national conglomerate? Contrary to popular belief, Stark Industries did not run itself. Nor was it run by the girlfriend of the founder's son. Well, it was, but that girl had a name, she had brains, and she took responsibility for her actions. It was time for Pepper Potts to make a real name for herself, even if the world at large never found out what she did.

It took her 20 minutes to back track and drive around the neighborhood in circles to make sure she wasn't followed. By the time she got to the well-appointed bungalow, Pepper felt she had designed the best possible rescue mission she was capable of attempting to pull off. She had no military training, no real tactical skills, with the notable exception of her improving handgun skills, and no access to reliable information. But, she had back up.

A firm knock on the front door brought her face-to-face with a surprised Happy Hogan. "Hi, Pep-, oh, ah, are we on the clock here?" he asked as he questioned the use of her first name as opposed to the more formal "Ms. Potts" if they were working.

Pushing past him into his home, Pepper sighed heavily, "Oh, Happy. I don't know about on the clock, but I can tell you that I'm off my rocker."

He closed and locked the door and followed Pepper into the living room where she was standing perfectly still and her eyes trained on him. He muted the LA Dodger's game on the TV. Whatever brought her here must be important.

"Happy, I have to ask you for your help. What I'm about to tell you is beyond top secret and not even I can comprehend how dangerous it is. I have to know if you're willing to back me up and be a part of something that could turn out very, very badly."

"Can I say no?"

"Oh, Happy, of course you can. In fact, you would ease my conscience if you did."

"I was kidding, Pepper," Happy countered. "Whatever you've got going on, if you think you need my help, then there's no way I'm leaving you hanging."

Her eyes filled with tears again. She bit back the urge to let them fall. Time to toughen up. If this succeeds then you can cry tears of joy for weeks; if it fails then you can cry tears of sorrow until your dying day - she told herself. Until then, turn the emotion switch to "off."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes Happy could tell there was something different about her. She was still the attractive, consummate business professional she always was, but there was an edge to her now. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he figured he was getting involved in something important. Something big. And she began to speak.

\--------

When she was done, Happy couldn't remember when he'd sat down. He had no idea the weight they were about to bear. Her encounter with Natasha at the mansion, the office, and the safe house, the involvement of AIM and SHIELD in an attempt to assassinate the Avengers, my God especially Tony, and her unbelievable plan to rescue Clint from the facility - what had he agreed to?

"Well, what do you think?" Pepper asked hopefully.

"Honestly, I think it sounds like a Mad Magazine parody mash-up of a 007 and Bourne Identity script. I think it's nuts. I think it's so nuts that it just might work." 

Happy picked up the remote and switched off the TV. "Should I call and get the jet ready for a flight to New York?"

Pepper allowed herself a very small smile. "Yes, but we're going to leave for the airport now. We'll stop somewhere on the way and pick up Track Phones so we don't use our personal cell phones. I don't know about yours, but mine is probably hacked. Use the new phones to contact only the necessary personnel. We don't need a cabin crew - just a pilot and co-pilot. Don't file the flight plan until the very last minute. In fact, let's fly into Newark, not JFK. We can rent a regular car to get to the Tower and then pick up the supplies from there."

"Ah, I know we're on our own from here on out, but don't you think we should contact Tony and tell him something? If he finds out his jet is gone, things could get weird. Well, weirdER."

"Leave Tony to me," said Pepper confidently.

Happy nodded and got up from the couch. He disappeared into his room to gather a bag of clothes for the trip.

Tony. What was she going to tell Tony?

She walked into the kitchen and pressed his speed dial number. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Oh, crap. She didn't plan on leaving a message. Four ring- "Pepper Potts? The one and only Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries?" came his voice over the phone. She smiled in spite of the dire situation she found herself in. She had to fix this. Had to make sure this man, her best friend, her lover, her future remained unharmed. And that he remained completely in the dark about her risking her life for him.

"Lucky for you, it is."

"Yep, I am lucky. I'm so lucky, in fact, that I don't even know how lucky I am."

"Tony, that makes no sense."

"Makes perfect sense to me, Potts. Shall I break it down for you?"

"No, no, not right now. But, maybe when I get back you can explain it to me."

"Back from where?" asked Tony with a slight edge to his voice.

"Back from New York. I have to fly out there tonight and put out a fire first thing tomorrow morning. It all started when the -" Pepper began to explain.

Tony immediately cut her off as she knew he would. "Ah, hey, Pep, you know it's not that I don't care about the details, but I just don't care about the details. I trust you with my company. If you think you need to be in New York tomorrow Ms. Potts, then you need to be there."

Pepper was momentarily overcome with emotion. Toughen up! "Well, Mr. Stark, I can't tell you what that vote of confidence from you means to me. You can rest comfortably knowing that I will successfully complete the mission."

"The mission?" laughed Tony. "Do you think you're an Avenger now? Hey, God knows we could use a set of brains in that operation. I think I'll suggest that to Fury."

"No!" Shouted Pepper. Get it together Potts. She chuckled into the phone, "Well, I mean no sense in dragging his sorry ass into legitimate business dealings. Let's leave covert ops to him and transparent corporate details to me, ok?"

"Gladly. Think you'll have it wrapped it up in time to be back for the weekend?" he asked with a seductive tone.

"I'll have to have this wrapped up long before then," she said, sounding ominous to her own ears. And added, "And we can make up for lost time."

"You drive a hard bargain, Potts. Go get 'em in New York. They don't stand a chance against you. Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have you on my side?"

"You're so lucky, you don't even know how lucky you are," she sighed. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

Tony let out a genuine laugh. "Have a safe trip, Ms. Potts. That will be all." He hung up.

She heard Happy come out of the room and drop his bag. He was dressed in gray sweatpants, a black hoodie, and white sneakers. He asked, "Are you ok?"

She thought about it for a quick moment and replied, "Actually, I am. He believes in me. Tony believes I can do anything. I want to prove him right. I want to save their lives."

He responded, "Then let's get across the country. We have an Avenger to rescue."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The action starts to build from coast to coast.

San Francisco

As she sifted through the files and samples, Natasha could not believe the treasure chest of evidence she was faced with. The good doctor's final location was more than just a safe house. It was the "let's kill the Avengers" secret clubhouse. And a poorly guarded one at that, especially given the contents within. She made quick work of the lackeys stationed there and was inside in no time. While the information was neatly organized and secure, it certainly wasn't hidden away. They were clearly not expecting a complication of any sort. Was it arrogance or were they lulled into a false sense of security?

She realized then that she had been completely under anyone's and everyone's radar. She began retracing her steps from the beginning of the mission. Her instructions had come through Fury's office, though not directly from the man himself. Not typical, but not unheard of. She never thought to question it given everything that was going on. And, really, why did she accept so easily that her mark was just stupid and had his transfer date wrong. No one involved in the business of assassinations got dates wrong. Not only had she underestimated her mark, she had completely underestimated the importance of this mission. This wasn't penance for a bad attitude, this was tailor-made for her. 

Dammit! How could she not have seen this? And who was behind it? Fury wouldn't have gone to such secretive lengths. Hill was on the ground dealing with clean up. The only other person who would have the clearance to assign her to a mission of any kind was dead. What the hell was going on?

The answer had to be staring her in the face, but maybe she was too close to see it. Right now she needed to get this information back to the Avengers. 

After searching everything in Clint's file and finding nothing about countering the effects of the drug, she had to hope Pepper was successful at getting him out of the facility and away from those who would do him, and all the Avengers, harm. She had faith in Pepper. If she hadn't, Natasha never would've handed Clint's life over to her. But now that she had everything in her possession and out of AIM's, she was free to get back and add more fire power. Hopefully, Pepper's part of the plan was going just as smoothly as hers had gone.

NYC

After arriving at the partially repaired Tower, Pepper went immediately to the room she shared with Tony. As she changed from her jeans into workout clothes suitable for a Yoga class, she marveled at her ability to sleep the entire cross-country flight. She felt nervous but rested. She and Happy had gone over the plan several times on the drive over from the airport to the Tower. A few tweaks here and there, plus a few "if/then" scenarios, and they both felt this was the best way to get Clint out of the facility. It was go time.

After leaving instructions with JARVIS, she headed down to the private garage level to meet up with Happy. There she found him standing next to the open driver's side door of Tony's Audi A8 four-door sedan. Not long ago she had chastised him for the over-the-top security enhancements he had built into the vehicle. She would be sure to apologize for those comments as soon as she saw him. "Your get-a-way car, Ms. Potts," he said.

"Thank you, Happy. I'll follow you as best as I can to the drop-off point," Pepper said with a shaky voice. She glanced to make sure the gym bag was in the front seat. Everything was as ready as it was ever going to be. 

"This is it. Let's go." With that she got into the car, fastened her seatbelt, and began to adjust everything specifically to her liking. The seat, the mirrors, the cameras, the dashboard readouts - everything needed to be exactly right so she didn't have to think about it later. When she was satisfied with the set up, she took a deep breath, put both hands on the steering wheel and thought: here we go.

She followed Happy's rented sedan to a side alley about two blocks from the facility where Clint was undergoing his "treatment." From what she understood, Clint should be mobile and able to move under his own power. Still, if he moved slowly and needed any kind of physical assistance from Pepper, she figured she could manage to help him for two blocks. It was far enough away to stash the car, but close enough to not tire either of them out if they had to run. Plus, it was outside of a building where Stark leased four floors. That kind of real-estate agreement came with two parking spots - no meter feeding or towing worries. The car would be there when they needed it.

She parked the Audi, grabbed the bag and joined Happy in the rental car. In the passenger seat she unzipped the gym bag to confirm the contents one last time. Inside there was a pair of gray sweat pants just like the pair he was wearing. There was also a black hoodie identical to the one he currently had on. A pair of white sneakers and a Dodgers ball cap rounded out the wardrobe. The right side pocket held Pepper's handgun, the left side pocket held a canister of mace. She tucked the Audi keys in her waistband. They drove the next two blocks in silence.

Two Blocks Away…

One good thing about the facility that Clint called home recently was that it was not considered high-security. There were check-in procedures to visit patients, but nothing involving a full-fledged security force. There were only a few long-term patients accommodated here. Clint liked that because, in the beginning, the doctors told him he could leave any time he wanted. He chose to stay onsite because he knew he would find a million reasons to not show up regularly for sessions. He wanted so badly to be rid of the guilt he carried after Loki overtook his mind, but didn't know what to expect from the treatments. Would it get worse before it got better? Would it even get better? So, after much soul searching and a difficult heart-to-heart talk with Nat, he decided to stay.

As he lay in the bed trying to ignore the constant chill in the windowless room, he thought back to that discussion he had with Nat. She didn't want him to stay here. 

What was her reason again? Oh, yeah, it wasn't secure. Well, nothing but her quarters and the handful of safe houses she maintained around the world were safe enough for her standards. Besides, he reasoned, the immediate threat was gone. Loki was back on Asgaard with Thor. Clint was assured that once the connection was broken, Loki would not have a hold on him. Not that Clint believed it, of course. He, like Natasha, subscribed to the line of thinking that "just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're NOT after you." There would always be threats in his line of work. Right now, he just wanted to get control of his life back. He would stay here and trust the SHIELD doctors. He even planned on taking Stark up on his offer to bring in some of the world's renowned experts to talk to him.

Nat backed down and helped check him in. She visited him every chance she got. That was truly the highlight of his short day. Even as he surprisingly seemed to sink into darkness over the past week or so, seeing her brought him happiness. He almost felt like he could be normal again when she was around. That's why he hated to see the short orderly show up. 

First of all, he wore a Mariners ball cap that was pulled so far down it covered half his face. It was freaky. Secondly, Mariners? But mostly he hated that the orderly showed up with his sleeping meds. That was always her cue to leave.

He couldn't be sure if it was her absence or some effect the sleeping pills had on him, but the nights were, well, they were scary. Not really like dreams or nightmares, not really like Loki's presence, just a feeling of nothingness. Like there was nothing worth waking up for. 

A couple of times it felt like he wouldn't be able to claw his way back from the darkness, like there was nothing on the other side. But then he would think of Natasha, about her being disappointed in him if he let the darkness win. He could never let his Tasha down. He had her back, no matter what the situation. He had to see her again. He had to beat this. So, back to the real world he crawled to face another day.

As he began to really consider what Natasha's hold on him was, he saw a figure enter the room. Slowly the Mariners cap came into focus. Was it night time already? What the hell…

Before Clint could say anything the orderly spoke. Clint realized this was the first time he'd heard his voice. "Agent Barton, you are about to have visitors. I strongly suggest you listen to them."

"What do you mean visitors? Like the ghosts of Christmases past or something? 'Cause that's the vibe I get from you, dude."

"You'll see." And with that he was out of the room.

The hair on the back of Clint's neck stood up. Something was up. He might be going - or already - insane, but his years of training told him that shit was about to go down and he better get ready.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All of Pepper's planning comes down to this.

Pepper and Happy strolled through the facility entrance and into the elevator with purpose. This was just another business deal. She was there to take possession of something Stark Industries considered an asset. They were not to be denied. If it turned into a hostile takeover, so be it. She might be without her Jimmy Choo power heals, but she wasn't looking to intimidate today. She was all about action. Going up, fourth floor: long-term psychiatric patient rooms.

Pepper had been to Clint's room one time with Tony. It was a brief visit not too long ago and not one she had put any effort into remembering. Until now. His room was 412 and visitors were required to sign in at the nurse's station. It wasn't like a typical hospital floor with several nurses scurrying from room to room. There were maybe two nurses who were more administrative than medical.

As they exited the elevator and approached the station, there were very few people in the hallway. One young nurse, who looked very bored, sat with her iPad in her lap. Updating her FaceBook status was more of a concern than monitoring the two new-comers to the floor. The only other person visible was an orderly carefully mopping the floor just outside of room 412.

"Good morning. We're here to see Agent Clint Barton," said Pepper cheerfully. The young nurse looked up in surprise and dropped the iPad to the floor. Pepper just continued to smile. Happy stood slightly behind Pepper with a mildly amused smirk on his face. He casually looked around as if admiring the stunningly sterile atmosphere of the area. If you weren't depressed when you came in, he thought, chances were good your mood would take a nose-dive after a few days of this dreariness. He was also scanning for security cameras, of which there were many.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't even hear the elevator open. I'm pushing twelve hours by now and I'm pretty zoned out. Anyway, ah, you're here to see Agent Barton, ah, ok, he's in room… Ah, wait a minute," slowly hummed the nurse as she began flipping through some papers. "It says here that he's not supposed to have any visitors."

Well, that was new.

"I wasn't informed of that. But, it must not apply to us. You see, I'm Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries. We are financing Agent Barton's treatment. I'm here to make sure that Agent Barton is getting the treatment we're paying for." Pepper allowed a certain dark undertone to flavor her voice. She doubted this girl had any idea of what was going on around her. But, if she was privy to the poison being administered to Clint, she wanted to hint that Stark had something to do with it, was paying for it, and wanted to check out the progress. If she wasn't in on the assassination attempt, then Pepper just sounded like a woman not to be messed with.

"I'm sorry, but I don't see any authorization forms at all. I can't give you access to his room. I have my orders." She sounded sure of herself, but her body language didn't support the authority she was trying to sustain.

"I understand, but since we're here on very serious business and as of 30 seconds ago, you didn't seem to be taking your business very seriously, perhaps we can come to a compromise. I'll send my associate, Mr. Hogan, out to get us some coffee, you let me see Agent Barton, and I don't turn you in for using your personal iPad to surf un-secure sites while on the clock. How's that sound?" Pepper was not to be messed with.

The blush on the nurse's face was instantaneous. To her credit she stared Pepper right in the eyes as she replied, "Yes, ma'am. Room 412."

Pepper and Happy locked eyes as he handed over the bag. He then turned and took the elevator back down to the parking garage. He would have the car ready for Pepper and Clint.

Pepper turned away from the nurse's station and walked measuredly toward room 412. She walked by the orderly and gave him a glance. "Good morning," she said.

"Good morning," he replied. She couldn't help but turn and look directly at him. His hat sat so low over his head that his face was completely shadowed as he continued to study the mop strokes on the floor. She quickly regained her composure and turned into Clint's room.

Oh, my.

The man in the bed did not look like the handsome, well-built, silver-tongued archer she met previously. Even for the short time she knew that man, the man in this bed was a different person. His head lay tilted on his left shoulder and his eyes were barely open and downcast. The dark circles under his eyes were like a make-up job gone very, very bad. His hair was flat, his whole body seemed to have a slight shiver to it. And no wonder. It was cold in here. He looked like a zombie. Not in the way zombies were trendy these days - like Bella Lugosi zombie. Scary.

She cleared her throat to announce her presence and walked over beside the bed. She bent in close to him so she could speak softly. No doubt there were cameras but she wasn't sure if the room was bugged.

"Hello, Agent Barton. Do you remember me?" she asked hopefully.

He turned to look at her and was drawn to her smile. He was in a fog, couldn't think as quickly as he was accustomed to. He stared at her and searched his brain for an answer he knew was there. Not Natasha. Dammit. "Ms. Potts?" he said barely above a whisper.

Her smile grew. "Yes, that's right. Now, I know you're not at your best right now, but I need you to listen to me very carefully. Can you do that?"

"He said somebody was coming to visit me. Didn't think it would be you," he said.

She immediately dropped her smile. Who knew she was coming? "Who told you?" she asked with no attempt to hide her fear.

That got Clint's attention. Shades of his personality, the real Clint Barton, were scratching their way back into his consciousness. "The creepy orderly," he said as he scrunched his eyes together trying to figure out what it was about the guy that was "off."

"How did the orderly know I was coming to visit you?"

"No clue, but he told me you were coming and to listen to what you told me to do. So, what are we gonna do? Please tell me it includes getting some heat in this room," he replied with a bit more life than he'd displayed a few minutes ago.

"I'll turn the heater on full blast in the car. I'm getting you out of here because Natasha discovered you're being poisoned by your doctor and the other Avengers are next," Pepper replied as she began quickly unpacking the gym bag. 

She continued in a slightly higher pitch and at a faster pace; babbling on and on, "I need you to put these clothes on. This is exactly what my body guard was wearing when we came in. I sent him off the floor to get us coffee. But, really he's getting the car ready. So, if anybody questions us, just keep this cap pulled down like your creepy orderly out there and keep walking." 

She never took a breath. She kept talking as her voice got higher and faster and Clint struggled to keep up. "I'll just tell them they must've missed him come back up. I know, I know, I know, it's totally lame and stupid and if I fail and you get hurt Natasha's gonna kill me and probably Tony, too, just because she can and-" she stopped talking when Clint put his hand on her wrist.

"It's actually a very good plan. Do you have a way to get us away from the facility?" he asked slowly and calmly.

"Yes. You'll see. Now hurry and change," she huffed.

He offered her a small smile as he gathered up the clothes and walked slowly and deliberately into the bathroom. She squeezed her eyes closed and got back on track. She mentally gauged that he could walk, but based on physical appearance, he was most likely not up for long distances. If this turned into a foot race, it would be a sprint for two blocks to the Audi and that was all she was going to get out of him.

When he emerged from the bathroom, he was dressed identically to Happy. Except he lacked a few pounds. Quite a few pounds. Hopefully the nurse and orderly wouldn't have paid too much attention to Happy's body build and they could just keep on walking out.

"Are you able to walk on your own?" asked Pepper.

"I'll make it," said Clint, but Pepper couldn't see that confidence reflected in the archer's eyes.

"Ok, follow me." As Pepper turned she came face to face with a short man in a white lab coat.

"Follow you where, Ms. Potts?" asked the man whose coat had blue embroidery scripting the name Dr. Moe Dok.

"What's up, doc?" replied Clint. "Fancy seeing you here today. It's been a hazy few days, but I don't remember the last time you actually showed up. Coincidence?"

"Agent Barton, I am a man of science. There is no such thing as coincidence. As soon as I saw Ms. Potts enter the building, I realized her presence was directly related to my missing assistants on the west coast. I'm here to thwart her plan and complete mine," the doctor stated. He pulled out a vial and began to unscrew the cap. "A few splashes of this on your skin and you'll be mentally trapped in a deep, dark hell until your body dies a natural death. And given your physical condition, you should have a good many years to go."

As Dr. Moe Dok pulled off the cap, Pepper lunged. Her powerful kick caught him off guard and he stumbled backwards away from Clint. She grabbed his wrist and tried to twist the vial out of his hand, splashing the clear concentrated liquid on both her and the doctor.

"Pepper!" screamed Clint as he moved to join the fray.

"Stay back, Clint! Stay back! This can't hurt me! It's only formulated for you! Stay back!" she pleaded as she continued to struggle with the mad scientist.

CRACK! 

The doctor suddenly slumped to the floor.

Pepper looked down to see a broken mop handle behind the doctor's head. She looked to her left in time to see the orderly bend down and over the incapacitated body. "I'll clean up this mess. Ms Potts go wash your hands and then get out of here," said the orderly.

"Thank you," whispered Pepper as she ran to the bathroom and scrubbed her hands, wrists, and arms up to her elbows with plenty of soap and scalding hot water.

Clint stood out of the way as the orderly quickly and effortlessly hauled the doctor from the floor to the bed. He arranged him on his side, face away from the door, with the covers pulled nearly completely over his head.

"That should buy you a little time," stated the orderly. He picked up the remnants of his mop and moved toward the door.

"Who are you?" asked Pepper as she came out of the bathroom and stood next to a dumbfounded Clint.

The orderly never acknowledged her question and continued out the door.

She wanted answers, but didn't have time to be sidetracked. She pulled the mace and gun out of the gym bag. The gun she dropped into the open pocket on her right pant leg and tucked the mace under her left arm sleeve. She turned to Clint. "You ok? I need you to be ok. We need to go before we get an audience," she said calmly and firmly.

He took a deep breath and tentative step forward. He nodded his head and allowed her to gently guide him by the arm around the residual mess and out the door. In the hallway there were a few more nurses gathered around the nurse's station. The young girl was on the phone talking quickly and eyes wide when Pepper and "Happy Clint" stepped out of the room. Pepper held her head high and walked passed the desks.

"Ma'am! Ma'am! What was all the shouting about? Is the patient ok?" the young nurse shouted after her.

"Oh, I'm so very sorry for all the noise. When Happy brought the coffee up, he got the cups mixed up. Believe me, you don't want to mix up Agent Barton's coffee order. It'll make him crazy," she spoke as they never broke stride. Clint couldn't help but smile as he kept his head down.

"He brought coffee back up? Where's mine?" she shouted incredulously.

The elevator doors closed. Pepper hit the button for the second garage level.

The elevator jerked roughly and they both grabbed on to the railing. The lights flashed and dimmed. Then the elevator continued smoothly down. They both looked at each other with wide eyes and knowing glances.

"When we get down there, Happy should be in the car. Dive in the back seat, stay down, and hold on," said Pepper with a very shaky voice. "We've got a way out of the parking garage," she said with a nod and a fake smile. "I think," she added.

As the doors opened, there were three men approaching the elevator. There were dressed in dark suits and sunglasses. Pepper's first thought was "really? men in black? that's not even funny" but the moment was gone as quickly as it surfaced. This was no laughing matter.

Just beyond them, she could make out the rental car and Happy opening the driver side door. Her next thought was "just stick to the plan, Happy, I can get us there" as her full attention turned to the MIBs.

She whispered very quietly, "Just keep walking forward and get in the back seat." Clint barely nodded, but she knew he heard her.

As they moved forward, the three men closed the distance between each other, clearly looking to create a tight perimeter that couldn't easily be breeched. Pepper veered slightly to her left as Clint veered slightly to his right, thus forcing the MIBs to spread out farther instead of tightening their ranks.

Pepper raised her left arm looking like she was going to push up her sleeve with her right. Instead she grabbed the mace with her right hand, flicked the safety off and ran directly at and then past the man on the end. At the same time, Clint changed direction and bolted to Pepper's side. He reached in her pocket and pulled out the gun. They turned around in opposite directions from each other and back to face the MIBs. 

Pepper sprayed the first man closest to her. She kept a constant stream going and was able to knock down the guy next to him, too. Clint had her gun trained on the third.

"Don't make me pull this trigger," he growled at the final MIB.

The man continued walking forward as his other two counterparts lay writhing on the cold cement.

Suddenly the sound of screeching tires and an elevator ding captured everyone's attention. The MIB gave them a humorless smile. His reinforcements had arrived.  
"Get in the car!" yelled Pepper, as she took off toward Happy and the open rear door. He had followed her orders to a tee. He never left the car. Now he was behind the wheel and drifting forward just waiting for his precious payload.

"Clint, get in the car!"

Suddenly the MIB lunged at Clint.

BANG!

The MIB was dead weight when he hit the ground.

Pepper watched as Clint dropped his head for a few seconds. Another tick to the body count column. Another death he'd have to atone for. 

Pepper vowed to herself that she would do everything she possibly could to help Clint get beyond this. He didn't deserve to suffer like this. As she was lost in thought, he was suddenly laying on top of her. Loud voices were yelling unintelligible instructions to each other.

"There are gonna be lots of big bullets really soon. We need to get out of here. Now!" insisted Clint.

"Happy," screamed Pepper. "Just like we planned! GO!"

They were suddenly pinned against the back seat as he sped through the garage. It wasn't a big head start, but hopefully enough of one.

Happy took each turn toward the garage exit at speeds fast enough to fish-tail every time. He was a well-trained driver and had lots of practice trying to keep up with Tony. He got them ahead of schedule with just a few turns. When he got to the exit of the garage, he slammed on the brakes.

"Meet you in the hills, Happy! Be careful!" screamed Pepper as she opened the rear passenger side door and jumped out. Clint followed her out the car door as Happy floored it before the door even slammed shut. He blew through the pay station and out into traffic. He weaved expertly through the minimal side street traffic and was out of sight before the dark sedans (again, really?) pulled up to the pay station.

As Happy sped away, Pepper and Clint ran through the man door and out into the service alley next to the building. "Hug the side of the building to avoid being caught on the cameras, " said Clint. She gave him a smile and did as he instructed. They moved quickly.

At the end of the building they crossed a side street and continued the two blocks to the stashed Audi. Pepper pulled the keys from her waist band and opened the doors. "Now THIS is what I'm talking about," sighed Clint as he dropped into the passenger seat. Just as Pepper thought, he was wiped out from the get-away.

She fired up the car and said, "JARVIS, we're in the car. Whenever you're ready." She put the car in gear and looked out the windshield.

"Uh, JARVIS? Are you there? I need you. Right now." Still silence.

A dark sedan drove slowly down the cross street in front of the Audi's side street parking space. Was it slowing down even more? Was she just being paranoid?

"Pepper…" Clint began.

"Hello, Ms. Potts," came the pleasant voice of JARVIS over the car's speakers. "I have successfully mapped out your escape route and have tied in to the traffic grid. Are you ready to go?"

"YES!" both Pepper and Clint yelled at once. The sedan had come to a stop just beyond the cross street.

"Very well. Proceed straight. I will read your current speed and funnel traffic accordingly."

"Read this speed," said Pepper through gritted teeth as she floored the gas on the expensive sports car. Happy wasn't the only one who Tony challenged when it came to driving. Ever since Iron Man came on the scene, Tony devised little games to help Pepper become more adept at getting herself out of a sticky situation. Even before they were officially an item, he would plan team-building activities for her. And they made a great team. Defensive and offensive driving, gun etiquette, and martial arts. He had made certain she had a moderate comfort level with all of it. And he made it really fun. All for moments like this. She really wanted to thank him.

Clint hunched down in his seat as they shot out into the street. Pepper followed the instructions JARVIS highlighted on the GPS map on the dash, as well as spoke out loud to her. As they drove, Clint called out the location of probable hostile vehicles, thus allowing JARVIS to tangle traffic around them by changing the traffic lights and flashing traffic signs. The little Audi seemed to be the only vehicle able to maneuver through the crowded city streets, across the George Washington Bridge and out of the city.

After a few hours of taking exits and doubling back onto the highway, Clint was fairly certain that they were not being followed. After announcing this to Pepper and JARVIS, he promptly passed out from exhaustion. 

Pepper asked JARVIS if he could pick up any hint that the car was being tracked by satellite. The AI assured her that the anti-tracking device was working and they should have a quiet drive to their final destination. He would alert her when Happy checked in. Pepper had no idea if Happy was ok, but they planned no contact of any kind for a minimum of six hours after they parted ways. She couldn't completely relax until she knew he was safe. Then again, getting worked up for the next three hours wouldn't do anyone any good, either. So, she would just drive.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Pepper, the Avengers assemble.

"Pepper! Look out! Don't you see it? You have to swerve!" 

Clint kept yelling at Pepper and she just sped up and headed right toward it. She was trying to hit the Chitauri standing in the middle of the road.

Clint grabbed the steering wheel and pulled it hard to the right. That sent the sedan and it's two passengers plunging off the little mountain road and into darkness.

The car just kept falling and falling. Clint waited for the crushing blow of metal meeting earth.

The fear continued to build. What did he fear of death? Certainly not pain - there was no physical pain with death. And based on how far they were falling, he wasn't going to feel the end for long. 

He feared the death of Pepper. Such a good person who risked her life for him didn't deserve to meet her end this way. He feared the death of Tony, because without Pepper, there would be no Tony, no Iron Man. He feared for Natasha.

Would there be a Natasha without him? Of course there would. But something pulled insistently at his mind. What would life be like for Natasha without him? No one to watch her back, to talk sense into her on missions. No, she wouldn't last long without him. That wasn't arrogance, that was fact. Just like Tony without Pepper, it can't work. 

But they didn't have the kind of relationship that Tony and Pepper had. Or did they? Do you need flowers, jewelry, and fancy houses to be in love with somebody? Certainly not. You just need…

"OH, Clint, please wake up! Please wake up!" He heard Pepper whispering in his ear, yet he saw her staring straight ahead with her hands on the wheel as they fell into the dark pit. Then he felt his whole body shake. What was happening?

"Come on, Clint. You can do this," she insisted. "Don't you let the darkness win. Come back to me. Come back to reality, Clint. We need you. Come back for Natasha, Clint. She needs you. She doesn't even know it yet, but she needs you."

He began to see the darkness outside the sedan windows lighten ever so slowly. Was he dreaming? No, too real to be a dream. Something… something to do with the poison. What did the doctor call it - a deep, dark hell? Oh, no way. Not now. Not letting that bastard win after everything else that happened. Clint needed to get back. For Pepper, he owed her. For Natasha, he loved her. 

Whoa. Wait. What?

Pepper was frantically shaking Clint as she stood outside the passenger side door in the little farmer's market parking lot. Even though she had parked as far away as she could, she didn't want to draw any unwanted attention from the few locals and many tourists milling around the area. Come on, Clint. Don't make me have to find a hospital, she thought to herself.

He finally sat straight up in the seat, hitting his head on the sun visor and staring wide-eyed out the front window. She leaned against the open door and sighed in relief.

Clint leaned out and grabbed her by the waist. His eyes were still big as saucers. "I love you! I mean, I love her. You know, Natasha?" He was breathless, like he'd just run a marathon. He continued babbling, "I… I just realized that I think I love her. I mean, of course I've always had feelings for her. We know everything about each other. She's the only person in the world I trust. But, I think I'm IN love with her…" He trailed off as if seeing Pepper for the first time since waking up. She just looked down at him and gave him the most amazing smile.

"Oh, hi Pepper," was all he could suddenly manage.

"Hello, Agent Barton. Welcome back to reality," she said quietly. "Sounds like you've had quite the journey - emotionally, as well as physically."

"Ah, yeah. Um, let's shelve the emotional part for a minute and let me focus on the physical part. Where, exactly, are we?"

Pepper gave him a sideways look that said that she would concentrate on the immediate issue at hand, but Clint was not off the hook and the emotional part was going to be revisited.

"We are just south of Lake Saranac in the Adirondak Mountains. More specifically, we are parked at a local farmer's market where I've picked up lots of healthy food for us. We might be here for a while and there's no reason why we can't take advantage of our modest yet comfortable bug-out location," she said as if very satisfied with herself. This was the most confident he'd seen her since the rescue attempt began. Good for her.

"And I bought beer," she said simply.

"Best. Rescue. Ever," said Clint as he looked her in the eye and gave her a weak, but genuine smile.

Smiling back at him, she said, "If you'd like to use the facilities, they're quite nice. I can wait here while you freshen up. Or, if you need help, I can walk you in."

He held his hand up in protest and climbed, very slowly, out of the car. "I need to reclaim my dignity some time. Might as well start now. I'll be back. Eventually." 

She watched him walk slowly to the main store and disappear into the building. She was a little leery of letting him go in alone, but she had JARVIS tapped into satellites and monitoring the surrounding area for radio chatter and unusual traffic. That's why she felt safe enough to stop here in the first place. She would give him his privacy. And ten minutes. Well, he was down to seven.

While she waited, she took the opportunity to pull out the disposable phone she bought back in California before they left. Was that only 16 hours ago? 

She texted Natasha: "The weather is good. Wish you were here." All true. Hopefully it got the point across.

As if he knew his time limit, she saw him exit the building and walk toward the car. What was he holding in his hand? Although he worked very hard at keeping his balance, his pace had picked up since he went in and his sleeves were pushed up. He looked like he was trying to relax.

When he was almost to the car, Pepper pushed off of the trunk she was leaning against and walked over to the passenger side to help him in the car. When he met her at the door, he handed her a purple flower. "It's not much, even as cheesy gestures go, but I want to thank you for saving my life."

Pepper looked at the flower and back at Clint. "It's beautiful, Clint. Um, how did you pay for it?" she shyly asked.

Shaking his head, he chuckled and said, "Pepper, you are amazing. I killed a man earlier today and yet you worry about a single shoplifted flower. And speaking of shoplifting, how did you pay for those groceries?" Clint asked with a sarcastic tone.

"Agent Barton," she began as if addressing a board of directors who offered her a challenge, "I have an account at this establishment. And I will be sure to add one stargazer lily to it when the bill comes." With that, she gently took the flower and walked over to the driver's side. She carefully placed it on the dashboard as far forward as the windshield would allow and climbed into her seat as Clint did the same, shaking his head.

As she pulled out onto the two-lane road, she pointed to the middle console. "There's a bottle of water for you. You should probably drink a lot and try to flush the toxin out of your system. I don't know if it works that way, but it might help."

"Thanks," he said simply and took a long swig. "So, how did this all come about? How in the hell did you get pulled into the middle of this?"

Pepper started from the very beginning in the mansion garage and weaved the story for him up to and including her frantic attempt to wake him up in the parking lot just minutes before. It sounded crazy to her and she lived it.

"So, Nat was going to meet with the AIM contingent and try to get more information?" he asked.

"That was her plan as of last night. That's the last contact I've had with her. I did send her a text a little while ago, but I wasn't expecting to hear anything back from her. Don't worry, Clint. You should know better than anyone what she's capable of. And believe me, when it comes to you, she will move Heaven and Earth, and the Hulk, I'm told, to make sure you're safe."

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "You know she feels the same way about you, don't you?" Pepper asked in an incredulous tone.

"Ah, I'm not sure what I'm feeling, so I'm not the best judge of what she's feeling."

Pepper heaved a very heavy sigh. "I can no longer consider Tony the densest person on matters of the heart. And it pains me greatly to admit that, ya know…"

Clint continued to stare straight ahead.

"Look, I've watched it happen twice. What pulled you back from the brink of hell? You thought of her each time, didn't you?"

He allowed himself a barely perceptible nod of the head.

"Look, neither of us are rocket scientists! We've got enough of those in this little clique already. We're just regular people with regular feelings. I've got feelings for one of those rocket scientists and you've got feelings for Natasha. Simple as that."

"Not so simple, Pepper." Clint couldn't even begin to name all the reasons why his feelings were a bad idea. Yet, he couldn't shake them. Never could. Never admitted to them, but they were always there.

Just as she was about really let him have it, her phone buzzed. Clint looked at it like it was growing legs. Pepper gripped the wheel until her knuckles were white. 

"Would you please take that, Clint?"

He picked up the phone and saw a text message. He read it out loud. "Decided to hang around town. Meeting up with an old friend to swap new stories. And design my new apartment. Will see you back here when the time is right. Happy"

"Oh, thank God," breathed Pepper. "We agreed that referencing his apartment in the tower meant he was safe. But, I have no idea what the rest means."

"At least he's safe. Looking to keep the body count holding steady from here on out." It was attempt at humor, but Clint knew it fell far short of being funny.

"You were hoping it was Natasha, weren't you?" asked Pepper.

"I don't know, Pepper. I don't know what's going on in my head anymore. All I wanted to do was get Loki out of there and get control of my own thoughts. I wanted to confront the memories as me, understand what happened, mourn for my friends and colleagues, and try to move on. Instead, I find myself sinking into nothingness. The only thing that made any sense in there was Nat."

"So, the answer to my question is yes," she stated.

After a very long uncomfortable silence, he said, "Yes."

There was no discussion after that until Pepper put on her turn signal a few miles later.

"Are we there yet?" he asked.

She smiled. "Almost. A few country roads and then we'll be there."

"And there is…" he asked.

"There is a little spot that not many people know even exists. It was my first major purchase when I was, well, let's call it promoted, to Tony's personal assistant. It became very clear very quickly that my time wasn't my time anymore. So, I wanted a place so distant, so different from my everyday life that when I got away, I was far away. That place turned out to be Lake Saranac New York. I've been here exactly three times in the last 10 or so years."

"You have a horrible boss," Clint said.

Pepper just smiled. "Let's just say misunderstood."

"Tomayto tomahto. He owes you. Big time. Make sure he pays his tab."

"Oh, we'll square up. Don't worry, Agent Barton."

They fell into an easy silence as Pepper easily negotiated the twists and turns of the back roads leading to her safe haven.

"Ms. Potts…"

Both Pepper and Clint jumped out of their seats. JARVIS interrupted the quiet of the car without any warning.

"Yes, JARVIS," answered Pepper as if she had just been woken up.

"There is an incoming cloaked transmission from Director Fury of SHIELD. He is asking to speak directly with you, Ms. Potts."

A hissing emitted simultaneously from both occupants, "Shit."

"Shall I patch him through? Although, I'm not sure there is any other option," stated the AI.

"Fine. Put him on," said Pepper tiredly.

"Ms. Potts, this is Director Nick Fury. How are you today?"

"Just fine, Director. How are you?" she cringed at her response. Clint sat stone-faced in his seat.

"I've had better days. You see, I don't like surprises. In my line of work surprises are bad. I work very hard to avoid surprises. But today has been full of them. Would you know anything about that?"

"I'm not sure. Ah, how about if you fill me in and I'll tell you if anything rings a bell." She would not allow Nick Fury, who she didn't trust as far as she could throw him, to undermine Clint's safety and the safety of the other Avengers still at risk.

Clint looked at her with respect. She was going to take on Fury. Time for the in-flight entertainment.

"Well, my day started with a report of a scuffle in the psychiatric facility housing one of my most valued assets. Shortly thereafter I got a call of shots fired in the garage of the same facility. Had to send in a clean-up team. Turns out some unsavory folks from an organization calling itself AIM started a turf war with my loyal employees. That, at least, was handled quickly and quietly. Relatively speaking."

Clint let out a sigh. The MIB wasn't SHIELD. That was a relief to him. It was a relief to Pepper, too.

Fury continued. "Then I get a call from an old friend telling me that my valuable asset will get an unscheduled change of scenery. And, that a trusted doctor was working for those same unsavory AIM folks. Do you know how that made me feel, Ms. Potts?"

"Yes, sir, I do. When you can't count on your trusted employees, who can you trust?" she immediately replied. Which garnered her a mouthed "kiss ass" from her passenger. She couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, it gets better. As soon as I arrange for the transport of the traitor doctor, I call Agent Hill back to the Helicarrier to begin digging into this breach of security and trust. She informs me that that would explain the cryptic message she received from another valued asset. We discovered that those files outlined a most disturbing plan to neutralize a group of people who I can't even say for sure exist. Are you following any of this, Ms. Potts?" came the condescending question.

"It is a little far-fetched, Director, I'll give you that. But I'm on the edge of my seat. What happened next?" She glanced at Clint. He was clearly enjoying this.

There was a brief silence on the other end. Clearly, the director was not.

"Next, I sent the files to an esteemed colleague of yours, a Mr. Tony Stark. Heard of him?" Now Fury was being mean.

Pepper turned white as a sheet and nearly veered off the dirt road. She gathered herself quickly and continued with the conversation. "I believe I am very well acquainted with Mr. Stark." Did she hear a snort in the background? She looked at Clint who was enjoying this a little less, as well.

"Well, he, in turn, passed this information off to a friend who was green with envy that others were privy to such information and he was not. So, as of the present time, I have two rocket scientists trying to develop some kind of antidote, one agent hot on the trail of any straggler AIM hostiles, one military big-wig bursting at the seams with his new toy, one missing valuable asset, and an old friend tying up loose ends with your body guard somewhere in the city. That's where I am, Ms. Potts. Where are you?"

Pepper glanced at Clint. Sounded like Fury new everything and then some. Clint nodded his approval and Pepper replied, "Well, Director, I can confirm that your valuable asset is indeed very valuable and is present and accounted for. We are en route to a secure location where I will take very good care of him. An antidote would be very helpful sooner rather than later, but at the present time, everyone can rest easy."

"I am relieved to hear that. While this should not be taken in any way as condoning your actions, I must say that I am most impressed with YOUR loyalty, Ms. Potts. Clearly SHIELD could use more recruits like you." Pepper could almost swear that there was a hint of a smile coming through his words. Clint's raised eyebrows confirmed her suspicion.

"Director Fury, what a kind thing to say," teased Pepper.

"Ms. Potts, do not think for one minute that this conversation is over. You will most assuredly be debriefed to within an inch of your life when you arrive at your destination. See you when you get here." There was definitely a smile in his voice.

She was not about to let him have the last word. "Looking forward to it, Director. And one more thing," she said.

"And what is that, Ms. Potts?"

"Potts out," and she ended the connection.

"That was brilliant! Only a select few can go toe-to-toe with Fury. You totally pissed him off, but you earned a little respect," stated Clint. "Hey, did you send out invitations to this party or what?"

Pepper had already lifted her foot off of the gas pedal and let the car drift slowly up the long driveway. There were two Quinjets - one parked on either end of the property. A glance upward confirmed the presence of the Hellicarrier. It was invisible to the untrained eye, but if you thought it might be there, you could see it.

"I didn't buy enough groceries," was all she could say. 

And suddenly she began to shake. It was over. They were safe. Clint had real protection now. Tony and Bruce were working on an antidote that would allow him to sleep without the fear of never waking up. She had done her job. She did it.

"Hey, Pepper. It's ok. Keep it together, will ya? You were amazing. Oh, please don't cry. Not now, not yet," Clint pleaded. He didn't want to see her cry. She was so strong throughout the whole thing. He didn't want anyone to see her like this.

"Oh, Clint. I promised myself that if we made it through this I was going to cry tears of joy. This is proving to myself that I made it. Really, it's ok," she began to sob.

He was never good at emotions, but he felt like he had to do something. He reached over with his left arm and brought her head to rest against his shoulder as she cried. He didn't understand it, but if crying made her feel better, then he'd let her cry.

Movement at the house caught their eye. Suddenly a figure was bolting from the house. No, two figures. 

"Pepper!" shouted Tony.

"Oh my God. Tony? Tony!" She pulled away from Clint, cupped his face and kissed him right on the lips. "You are a very valuable asset, Agent Barton. Don't waste any more time hiding from your feelings." With that she grabbed her flower from the dashboard and jumped from the car. She ran straight into Tony's arms.

"Are you ok, Pep? Do you have any idea how worried I was? Oh, do you have hell to pay, Ms. Potts," Tony just rambled. Then he looked into Pepper's eyes. "How can I be so pissed at you and so proud of you at the same time?"

"Because you love me?" offered Pepper.

"That must be it. I love you. More than you could ever know," and began to kiss her passionately.

"Get a room, Stark. And Potts," came a voice from behind Pepper. She broke from the kiss to see a briskly walking Natasha Romanoff heading directly to the car. 

Pepper didn't expect to see her here. Based on the look on Clint's face as he leaned on the hood of the car, neither did he. He may have been going for the devil-may-care look, but Pepper knew he needed the support of the car hood. She was guessing that Nat did, too. Props to her for not letting on as she walked up to him.

As Natasha continued walking, she thought that was the most horrendously cheesy line in the history of cheesy lines. "More than you could ever know." Oh, please…

"So Barton. That was another fine mess you'd gotten yourself into," teased Natasha. "Lucky for you I picked the best person around to get you out of it."

"Hey, nobody even bothered to ask me," whined Tony. "I could've gotten Robin Hood out of there, too, ya know."

"Sure, Shell Head, and made a scene doing it," countered Nat. "Your better half and your buddy wrecked a couple cars and snarled city traffic for a little while. No harm, no foul."

"Whatever," said Tony as he pulled Pepper closer and stood in their embrace.

"Hey, Nat," was all Clint could manage. He was tired, but was terrified to go to sleep. Plus he was confused. Not about his feelings anymore, but about hers.

She turned around and leaned against the hood of the car to his right. She tried to make it look casual, but she made sure her left shoulder made contact with him. She needed to feel him. Needed to know he was really there, all there.

"Busy day, huh?" she asked.

"Not as busy as yours," he answered. "How did you get here? Last I knew you were in San Francisco."

"I was. Thanks to Col. Rhoades and his modifications to the Quinjet, a cross-country trip doesn't take any longer than a few episodes of "Myth Busters. Not that I watched any. I was busy putting out fires and tracking down AIM scum. Lucky for them, I chose to come here and be part of the welcome wagon instead of personally eliminating the threats," she said with an ominous tone. She wanted to rip them limb from limb for what they put Clint through. She'll settle for questioning Dr. Moe Dok for all his answers.

"Why do you do that?" he asked her.

"Do what?" she replied with raised eyebrows.

"Why do you jump through ridiculous hoops to save my sorry ass?"

"Who else is going to? And besides, it's nice having your ass around," she said, attempting to sound casual. Inside, though, her stomach was in knots. She was so relieved he was standing next to her. She was crazed thinking that she would find him in a non responsive state and be unable to tell him what she felt for him. Now, though, she felt like a coward. She didn't know what to say.

As they watched Pepper pulling Tony toward the house, Clint moved his right hand to cover her left. She stiffened involuntarily. Pepper turned to glance at them sitting on the car. She gave that stellar smile. She knew he wanted Nat. Needed Nat. She was urging him on with that knowing smile. Well, it sure seemed to be Pepper's day. If she thought it was a good idea, now might be his best shot.

"Um, Nat, this is the real me talking. No mind control, no toxin, ok?" he asked as he turned to face her. She turned to him and was struck by the look in his eyes. It was the most alive, most intense she'd seen him in weeks, in months. She couldn't look away.

"I have something to tell you, but you have to promise to not kill me," he said seriously. "This should be really easy, but it's the most difficult thing I've ever had to tell anyone."

She continued to meet his intense gaze. She knew. She knew what he wanted to say. She wanted to say it, too. How could she be this lucky? He really felt the same way.

As he opened his mouth, she gently put her finger up to his lips to silence him. "I already know. I love you, too. More than you could ever know." She took her fingers from his lips as his eyes shone, his face looking star struck. She moved her hand behind his neck and pulled his head to hers. Their foreheads touching, eyes staring into each other, she repeated, "I love you, too," and touched her lips to his.

At that, both of them closed their eyes and lost all train of thought.

From high above the property, Director Fury turned from the screen broadcasting the scene below. "Please tell me you've seen enough," he barked tersely.

"Yes, Boss, that'll do."

"Good. Hill, kill video. Now can we get down to some real business?" Fury turned to another video screen and addressed the man under the Mariner ball cap. "Are you certain we've cut off all arms of AIM and this dumbass plan of theirs?"

"Absolutely. I tracked each formula and all associated peripheral entities. There were SHIELD teams assigned to each one. All have reported back as successful in eliminating the threats. AIM is no longer a major player. All paperwork resides at Avengers Tower with Happy Hogan." 

The man glanced down at something off of the screen. "Sir, a text was just intercepted from Dr. Banner. He's figured out the antidote for Agent Barton. He has sent the new formula to Mr. Stark. He's also confirmed that as long as a new dose hasn't been ingested and the toxin continues to be flushed from his system, Agent Barton will be fine." He let out a relieved sigh. "I believe SHIELD can consider this case closed. Now, it's his deeper-seated issue of the Battle of New York that concerns me."

Fury sat down as he spoke. "I have high hopes for a complete recovery. Stark assured me that he's got the best in the business flying in as we speak. He plans to keep this group together to help Agent Barton through his treatment. Surely his new attachment to Ms. Potts, our very own super-spy-for-a-day, will be a big boost. But, clearly the biggest breakthrough is with Agent Romanoff. How in the hell those two were the last to see it makes me question their status as SHIELD's top agents."

The man on the video screen chuckled.

"And as for the stunt you pulled…" said Fury as he leaned back in his chair and put his legs up on the control panel. "The next time you decide to fake your own death, how about letting your boss in on the plan?"

"Yes, sir."

"And find a new hat, Agent Coulson. I'm sure Portland has a sports team you can support. Fury out."


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One big, happy, dysfunctional family.

"It's really quite stunning how they got the microbes to suppress the serotonin production in Agent Barton's body. And developing the organisms to work better in a cool climate as opposed to a warm one was brilliant," excitedly explained Dr. Bruce Banner over the makeshift video interface. "I don't think they had enough time to execute the entire plan post-Loki. They planned to use this delivery on him from its inception. It was just lucky for them that he walked right into the psych ward. Oh, no offense, Agent Baron."

A tired-looking Clint motioned to the screen and gave a weary smile. "None taken, Dr. Banner. I'm known for my eyes, not my luck."

That elicited a chuckle from the others gathered around the big screen tv in the living room of Pepper's mountain hide-away. 

In typical Tony Stark fashion, he made good on his promise to keep a small group of trusted friends with Clint as he recovered from the AIM attempt on his life. He set up a functioning CEO office for Pepper to work from. He knew she was torn between staying to help Clint and fulfilling her responsibilities as head of Stark Industries. From here should could do both effectively, even if not efficiently by her standards. 

Rhodey stayed to continue work on his Quinjet modifications. Happy brought the AIM evidence from Coulson and was asked by Clint to stay. Tony stayed because he wasn't going anywhere without Pepper. 

And Romanoff was here. Specifically, Romanoff was wherever Clint was. Fury sent word that she should take whatever time was necessary to secure that the mental capacity of Agent Barton was restored at or near 100%. He also sent word to cease all inquiries into the "creepy orderly" from the facility.

And beyond that, Tony was working to bring in the rest of the Avengers and some of the best minds in the neuroscience and psychiatric professions to help Clint move beyond the traumatic takeover of his mind by Loki. Bruce was on his way, but wanted to update everyone on what he'd discovered and that the immediate threat was over.

"So, let me see if I understand what you're getting at," said Tony. "The absence of serotonin from Robin Hood's body allowed the depression to deepen. If he never jump-started the serotonin production by thinking happy thoughts - mostly about our favorite red-headed assassin - then he would be existing in a state of irreversible depression. Healthy on the outside, drifting in a sea of darkness on the inside? Am I right?" asked Tony.

"Well, in some very insensitive terms, yes," stated Bruce as he removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose in embarrassment. "Just keep him warm, hydrated, and happy. Good advice for all of us, actually. I'll see you a few days." With that, his image disappeared and the Stark Industries logo blazed on to the screen.

"Did you hear that, Widow? Time to get Green Arrow here tangled in the web of your love," teased Tony.

A cacophony of "TONY!" and "STARK!" and "Shut the hell up!" assaulted the billionaire from all sides. He just stood and smiled at Natasha as she sat and aimed a measured look right back at him. He should've feared for his life, but he knew he was right. Luckily for him, she knew it, too.

"Hey, everybody," said Pepper as she got up from her chair with a heavy sigh and hard punch to the upper portion of Tony's left arm, "before Bruce called in I put lunch out in the kitchen. Make your own sandwiches and there's leftover soup from last night's dinner. I'm making a run back to the farmer's market tomorrow, so put in your requests." She moved toward the kitchen when Clint shakily stood up.

"Pepper?" he said. She turned around and took a few steps toward him.

"Yes, Agent Barton?" she replied.

"Things are still fuzzy, for reasons I understand a little bit better now, but if I haven't yet thanked you for everything you did for me, please forgive me. I want to say in front of everyone what an incredible person you are." He paused and sent a glare over to Tony. "Stark, you are the luckiest sonofabitch on this planet. And probably a few others," he growled. Tony didn't argue.

Clint looked back at Pepper. "Your plan was a good one. You and Happy were a great pair in the field. You kept it together and you even engaged a hostile with a live biological weapon. I don't know what I did to deserve all that, but I thank you. If there's anything I can do to repay that debt, please promise me you'll tell me." He sat back down, exhausted from his emotional speech. He leaned against Nat's shoulder.

A beaming Pepper walked over to him and gave him a huge hug as she teared up. "I would do it all over again for you. And for you," she looked directly at Nat. "For any of you," she said as she glanced around the room. 

She turned her attention back to Clint. "But since you offered to repay me," she said in a very serious tone, "you get to cook dinner tonight." She smiled as she looked back and forth between the SHIELD agents whose jaws had dropped in utter surprise.

"Ok, tomorrow night. I'll give you a day to prepare," with that she walked out of the room and into the kitchen.

"Ah, do they deliver pizza out here?" asked Clint to nobody in particular.

Rhodey slapped him on the shoulder as he walked toward the kitchen. "Let that be a lesson to you about overly dramatic declarations of gratitude."

Clint smiled. "Like all my other lessons, I learned it the hard way. Still, I meant everything I said."

Happy and Tony walked out together shaking their heads and keeping their comments to themselves. They had each experienced similar chores at the hands of Pepper and neither wanted to chance her attention while she was doling them out. Tony knew he was on thin ice due to his previous comments. It was just a matter of time.

That left Clint and Natasha alone. He reached for her hand and held on tight. He needed to know she was there. "Are you ok? Bruce's diagnosis was pretty tame compared to what I was imagining in my head," she asked.

He looked into her deep green eyes. Yes, this is what he fought for, what he pushed through the darkness to get back to. Tony was right, really. It was Nat who saved him. Even though it was Pepper who rescued him, it was his Tasha that was going to get him through it. Just the thought of her made him happy. "I think I just got a rush from some serotonin," he joked.

She looked back at him and smiled. A rare, happy, toothy smile that even reached her eyes. 

"Agent Barton, you sure know how to turn on the charm." Then the smile faded and she got very serious. "If I had lost you, my world would have shattered. My life would've gone on, but it would've been hollow. But because of all this, I finally had the guts to admit my feelings to myself and to you. And I don't think I'll ever get tired of saying it. I love you," she said quietly.

"We are going to practice saying that in every language we know. And then learn it in some others," he said with a smile. He pulled her to him and said, "Я люблю тебя."

Hearing him say that he loved her in her native language was amazing. Her mind went blank and she began kissing him. Yes, she could get very used to this. 

Regardless of how long and rocky his road became, she would be walking it every step of the way with him.

Pepper couldn't believe she was able to watch the two master assassins from the kitchen doorway. She knew she hadn't acquired a spy's stealth over the last two days. It was a testament to the level of trust everyone felt with each other here that they were comfortable enough to show such affection. Which meant she shouldn't exploit that by watching them. She was just so happy for them. 

As she pulled back into the kitchen and surveyed the guys eating the simple lunch, she leaned against the wall and smiled. This was all possible because of her. She'd done it. 

Yes, Ms. Potts, that will be all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who saw this through to the end. I just love Pepper and hope I did her justice. Thanks for reading.


End file.
